


Promises, Promises

by Kirathaune



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-26
Updated: 2017-12-26
Packaged: 2019-02-21 20:50:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13151793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kirathaune/pseuds/Kirathaune
Summary: An unexpected examination prompts Goku to make sure Sanzo will keep a certain promise. Some spoilers for the most recent chapters of Blast.





	Promises, Promises

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Mosca for the Saiyuki Secret Santa exchange on Tumblr.

After being on the road for almost two years, and never staying in the same place for more than a few days, Goku admitted it felt weird to be going into their third week at Sharak’s mountain fortress.

He had gotten to the point where he knew a whole bunch of people by name, and could go anywhere in the temple and barracks—and the village, too—without asking for help. Even so, their extended stay had given Goku a curious restlessness that he wasn’t quite sure what to do with.

As usual, he had recovered from their encounter with Nataku and his weird army much quicker than everyone else, although he still had a few lingering cuts and bruises. He helped Sharak’s men with the ongoing repairs to the fortress’ outer walls, and joined them during their training sessions. Hassan had tried in vain to get him to rest more, but he just nodded through his lectures and went off to find another willing sparring partner.

Gojyo said he had ants in his pants, and after Goku found out what that meant—and checked his pants to make sure—he had to agree.

The other three definitely needed the down time—especially Sanzo—but Goku had quickly gotten tired of being stuck in the quarters that Sharak had assigned to them, however roomy and nice they were. It was different for Hakkai and Sanzo; when they weren’t sleeping they spent their time reading, and Gojyo played endless games of solitaire. None of the scrolls made any sense to Goku, not that he was much of a reader anyway, and Gojyo could beat him at cards so easily that it wasn’t much fun.

So in between repairs, training, and sparring, Goku ran a delivery service of sorts for his friends, bringing scrolls and tea for Sanzo and Hakkai, cigarettes and booze for Gojyo, and meals when they were too tired to join everyone in the dining hall.

The afternoon’s delivery was an easy one, just a couple of scrolls and some ciggies for Gojyo. Worn treads creaked as Goku bounded up the narrow stairwell, up, up, up until he reached the top level of the fortress, which was where all the living quarters were situated. They were pretty high up, which was great for safety, but Goku could understand why Hakkai and Sanzo only came down to the lower levels for the evening meal.

Goku pushed open the door to their quarters and went inside. He had to admit, it was a pretty sweet setup—a common room flanked on two sides by four small bedrooms. Nothing fancy, but everything was clean and Goku was couldn’t remember the last time he’d had his own room. He found Sanzo sitting at the table next to the common room’s window, smoking a cigarette and reading a newspaper that had to be at least a month old. The table was littered with newspapers and several full ashtrays, but Goku noticed that the scrolls that needed to be returned to Sharak were rolled up neatly and set on top of a nearby chest of drawers.

“Hi, Sanzo,” he said, and Sanzo grunted in reply as he put the scrolls on the table. “I don’t know which is yours and which is Hakkai’s, so I’ll put them both here.” He looked around the room, but Sanzo was the only occupant. “Where are the others?”

“Hakkai’s sleeping,” Sanzo said, “and the cockroach is off playing cards down the hall.” He looked over his newspaper at the carton of cigarettes in Goku’s hand, and scrunched his nose in distaste. “He’ll smoke anything, won’t he? Those taste even worse than his usual brand.”

“He said beggars can’t be choosers,” Goku said, “and he doesn’t want to make his own like you’ve been doing.” He glanced at the small dish next to Sanzo’s cup, noting that it still held a decent handful of hand-rolled cigarettes. Sanzo hadn’t been smoking nearly as much since they’d been staying at the fortress, and Goku had a suspicion that making his own smokes had made Sanzo ration his stash. “I’m surprised that Gojyo is off playing cards with the men.” He put the carton in front of Gojyo’s bedroom door.

Sanzo frowned at him. “Why are you surprised? They’re fresh meat to him, he knows all our tells.”

Goku shrugged as he walked back to the table. “He’s been weird since he found out about that mark on his neck.”

“Weirder, you mean.”

“Yeah, weirder. He thinks everyone is watching him, waiting for him to suddenly go all demon on them.”

“Idiot,” Sanzo said, “no one else knows about his mark except us, and he’s only had it for a few weeks.”

“A few weeks since you saw it,” Goku said. “Who knows how long it’s been there, with all his hair? And we haven’t really been sleeping or bathing around each other recently.” Even if they had, Goku wouldn’t have thought to look for a demon mark on anybody.

Sanzo’s eyes narrowed, and then suddenly focused on him, his sharp violet gaze flicking from Goku’s boots to the limiter on his brow.

“Strip,” he said.

Goku blinked. “Huh?”

Sanzo set his paper on the table, and took off his reading glasses. “Clothes. Off. We need to make sure you’re not walking around with a mark, too.”

A cold knot tightened in Goku’s stomach as he toed off his boots and shrugged out of his shirt.

What if Sanzo found something? Would that mean his limiter might stop working?

A minute later, he stood in front of Sanzo, clad only in his boxers. “Aren’t I already kind of a demon? Sort of?” Goku asked, tapping his diadem. “Gojyo told me once that I had a mark on my stomach when I changed, but there’s nothing there now.” He pointed at his mark-free belly.

“Whatever the fuck you are, I don’t want to make any assumptions,” Sanzo said. “Gojyo is a half-breed, so he shouldn’t have a mark, and yet now he does. So, I’m going to check you. Turn around.”

Goku complied, and the slight chill in the room raised goose-bumps on his arms while he waited for Sanzo to finish. He yelped when his boxers were yanked down.

“Sanzo! I wouldn’t have a demon mark on my ass!” He gripped the waistband to keep the front of his boxers up.

“How would you know?” Sanzo pulled back on the waistband and released it. The elastic snapped against Goku’s skin with a loud _thwack_.

“Ow,” Goku said, rubbing his backside.

“I’ll trust you to check the rest,” Sanzo said, waving a hand in the direction of Goku’s crotch. “You can get dressed.”

“I think I’d have noticed something down there,” Goku muttered as he grabbed his clothes off the floor.

“Oh, you admire your balls every time you take a piss?”

“No!” Goku sputtered, and he scowled at the smirk on Sanzo’s face. “It isn’t funny!”

The fleeting amusement left Sanzo’s face. “No, It’s not. Just check, all right?”

“Okay,” Goku said, and he pulled on his pants and fastened them up.

“And let’s keep this between us for now.” Sanzo reached for his newspaper and glasses.

“Okay.” That was fine with him—the last thing Goku needed was for Gojyo to start messing with him. He put his shirt back on, and by the time he poked his head through the collar Sanzo had lit a new cigarette and resumed reading his paper. Usually that meant the conversation was over, but Goku wanted to check something else. “Hey, Sanzo?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re still gonna do it, right?” Goku tugged his boots back on.

“Do what?” Sanzo asked from behind the paper wall.

Goku’s fingers worried the edge of his shirt hem. “You know… if I go berserk, and you can’t get me back to… me. You promised.” He pushed back the memories of another set of mountains, and a ring of snowy graves.

Newsprint rustled as half the wall dropped down, and Sanzo glared at him over the rims of his glasses. “Don’t ask stupid questions.”

The wall snapped back up into place.

Goku laughed at the very Sanzo-like response, and he took a deep breath as the knot of worry began to unravel. “Thanks, Sanzo.” His stomach gurgled, reminding him that he hadn’t had his afternoon snack yet, and Sanzo’s quiet huff of amusement banished the rest of the tension that had tightened up his insides.

“There’s a couple of scrolls on the table near the door,” Sanzo said. “Take them back down to Sharak’s library, and tell her I’ll put them back in their proper places tonight.” He turned a page of the paper.

A definite dismissal this time, but that was fine—Goku had gotten an important question answered, sort of, and the fact that Sanzo was going to put the scrolls away meant he intended to join them for dinner later on. Maybe they could even have a game or two of mahjongg after dinner; they hadn’t played in awhile and Goku much preferred mahjongg to cards.

He scooped up the scrolls on his way out, and whistled an aimless tune as he headed back down the stairs. Sanzo was almost better, which meant they would be back on the road soon. As much as Goku enjoyed having a room to himself, he looked forward to continuing on with their mission.

Well, it really wasn’t a mission any more, since they had kind of gotten fired. But they were still going West, and still intended to stop the Minus Wave and get Sanzo’s stolen scripture back.

Whatever they were calling it now, Goku was ready to get back to it.

* * *

Sanzo stubbed out the end of his cigarette, cursing as the tips of his fingers touched the ash that had piled up in the chipped plate that served as an ashtray. Handmade smokes were a pain—they didn’t last nearly as long as his Marlboros, and he was used to having a filter on the end. The only upside was that the villagers really did have some nice tobacco. He glanced at the pitiful pile that remained in the dish and frowned; he was going to need to make some more, he was almost out. Maybe tomorrow he would send Goku over to the village to replenish his supplies.

“Tell me, Sanzo, are you really going to be able to keep your promise to Goku?”

Sanzo turned his head and saw Hakkai standing in the doorway of his room. “Taking to listening at doors, Hakkai?”

Hakkai held up a scroll. “I was going to give this to Goku to take down, and I was about to open my door when I heard Goku complaining about certain aspects of his… examination. I take it you didn’t find anything?”

“No.” Sanzo put down his paper and lit another cigarette.

“I agree that it’s a good idea to keep an eye on things, especially as we get closer to Hontou Castle. I’ve been checking myself regularly, as well.” Hakkai walked over to the table and examined the new scrolls. “But you didn’t answer my question, and I don’t think you really answered Goku’s.”

“I answered him.”

Hakkai cocked his head and regarded him. “One thing I’ve come to know about you, Sanzo, is that you very seldom lie outright. Instead, you either ignore the question or give a non-answer. I’m sure Goku inferred that it was foolish to ask about your promise, and that you would indeed kill him if he ever loses himself to the Minus Wave. But that’s not the only way your answer could be taken, is it?”

“Think what you want to think.” Sanzo tossed his lighter onto the table and opened his newspaper again.

“Ah, another not-lie. I think you told him it was a foolish question because you have no intention of killing him. I don’t think you’ll be able to do it.”

Sanzo’s lip curled in a sneer. “I’m not going to make some sappy declaration like you did.”

Hakkai smiled. “I’m not ashamed of what I said.” His gaze met Sanzo’s for a few silent moments, and then he held up the scroll in his hand. “I think I might just take this down myself, a little exercise will do me good. I assume from your conversation with Goku that we will all be dining together tonight, so I will see you at supper.” He walked to the door, but before he left he turned back to face Sanzo.

“Don’t worry, Sanzo,” Hakkai said. “If that time should ever come, Gojyo and I will be there to help you break your promise… because we love Goku, too.”

_-fin-_


End file.
